Tiller



(No Model.)

' H. WALKER & A. MILTNER.

TI'LLER. No. 254,179. I Patented Feb. 28,1882. 7

WITNESSES: INVENTORS,

JQQW/Q BY ATTORNEY N. PETERS. Pnmwmho n m Wadingon. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE.

HIRAM WALKER AND ANDREW MILTNER, OF TONAWANDA, NEW YORK.

TILLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,179, dated February 28, 1882.

Application filed July 18, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HIRAM WALKER and ANDREW MILTNER,bOll1 citizens of the United States, residing at Tonawanda, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have made certain Improvements in Tillers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to improve the construction of tillers for canal-boats carrying deck-loads (as nearly all do) by curving and strengthening it properly, so that the steersman standing on the deck-load can handle it with safety.

Curved tillers have been used before, but are usually cut from a piece of wood, and the curves, running partly against the grain, tend to weaken them and make them unsafe by breaking off at the curves when a strong pressure is made on them, and throwing the steersman into the water or otherwise injuring him.

Our invention is to make such a tiller of a single piece of wood cut with the grain, and before bending it by steam into shape cutting one or more longitudinal slits equidistant apart therein, and then steaming them into shape, and afterward bolting vertically through the whole, thereby greatly strengthening the whole, making it almost impossible to break; and our invention consists in so constructing such a tiller by slitting, steaming, and bending and bolting together, as fully hereinafter explained.

In the drawing the figureis a side elevation of the tiller after being bent and bolted.

A represents a single piece ofwood of straight grain with a long slit, a, cut or longitudinally (No model.)

sawed therein, and far enough toward the handle proper not to strain the fibers too much when bent. A second slit, a, is sawed below the other, not so long as a. After this the whole is steamed in the usual manner and formed into proper shape, about as shown, with a bend at c to give the upward curve near the base, and another at d to give a downward curve to the end forming thehandle e, the rear part, f, setting into the rudder-head. (Not shown.)

Themain object of theslits a a is that if the wood were steamed and bent without them it would-not come out even at the end, he sides weakening and perhaps breaking some of the fibers. Additional strength is given by bolting the parts together by a number of bolts, b b b b, using as many as required,making it impossible to break in any part.

We claim-- A curved tiller for boats, being tapered from the rear to the handle end and formed of a single piece of wood, having a long slit, a,-extending nearly the'entire length of the tiller, and a shorter slit, a, stopped farther back, steamed and bent into proper curved shape,

and secured by rivets 12, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HIRAM WALKER. ANDREW MILTNER. Witnesses:

J. R. DRAKE, S. G. J OHNSON. 

